And Just Like That star requested more nude scenes in season three: ‘My DMs blew up the next day’

And Just Like That star Mario Cantone has revealed he insisted on filming more nude scenes after his season two sex scene was met with overwhelming fan praise.

The 65-year-old actor, who was first introduced as event planner Anthony Marentino in the original Sex and the City series, returned to the Max reboot alongside leads Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, and Cynthia Nixon.

In episode 10 of the most recent season, Anthony is seen in bed with his new romantic interest, Giuseppe (Sebastiano Pigazzi), a young Italian poet and new employee of Anthony’s Hot Fellas bakery. After the two get into a tiff over Anthony’s preferences in bed, he gets up to go to the bathroom. As he turns around to walk away, he shows off his bare naked bum.

Speaking about the positive fan response to his nudity during a recent interview on Davis’ Are You a Charlotte? podcast, Cantone recalled getting bombarded on social media with private messages after the episode’s release.

“My DMs blew up the next day,” he said, adding that before filming for the new season began, he told showrunner and executive producer Michael Patrick King he wanted “more nudity.”

“I like being sexualized at 65 years old. It’s good,” Cantone joked.

The forthcoming series of And Just Like will welcome the return of the show’s leading trio, Parker as Carrie, Davis as Charlotte, and Nixon as Miranda. In addition to Cantone, it will also welcome back Sarita Choudhury as Carrie’s friend and realtor, Seema, and Nicole Ari Parker as Lisa Todd Wexley, a fellow parent and board member at the private school Charlotte’s children also attend.

Last February, news broke that Sara Ramirez’s non-binary stand-up comic and podcast host, Che Diaz, would not be returning. Their two-season appearance on the show, which included a romantic romp with Miranda, faced backlash from fans, who found them to be the show’s most insufferable character.

Earlier this week, Max released the season three trailer, which teased that there’s “nothing like summer in New York City” and showed Carrie (Parker) turning her hand to fiction writing, tackling a rat infestation in her home and, of course, dealing with the twists and turns of her love life.

Season three of And Just Like That premieres on Thursday, May 29 at 6:00 p.m. PT/9:00 p.m. ET on Max in the U.S. and on Sky TV and Now in the U.K. The rest of the 12-episode season will be released weekly thereafter, concluding with the season finale on August 14.